Damaged Goods
by myownwayx
Summary: When Neal gets hurt undercover, Peter realises just how much his friend means to him. Peter feels responsible for him, he wants to help him get back on his feet, no matter what it takes. Hurt/Comfort
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So for the past couple of weeks I have been watching White Collar so much that I have had countless dreams about doing Cons with Neal and camping in the van with Peter. It's obsessive. And I really wanted to write something about Peter and Neal, because they make me smile. I love their relationship and the dynamics they play makes me grin. **

**This isn't going to be a very long story, maybe 5 parts at the most whilst I get used to writing them. I hope you all like this. Please let me know. **

**Thank you to Same Here for being this amazing person and beta and giving me the right amount of kicks up the backside to do something productive. **

**Part 1**

Neal sat and waited. His whole body was burning with pain, he was sure there wasn't a part of him that wasn't bruised or bleeding. The metallic smell of blood was making his stomach turn. He had always hated the smell of blood ever since he was a child. Neal's body was screaming for him to close his eyes, to give in to the heaviness behind his eyelids and drift into nothingness. But he refused. Now was the time to be as stubborn as everyone believed him to be. He wouldn't close his eyes; he knew he would never open them again. And Peter was coming. Peter would find him, and he'd make him okay just like he always did.

"We need to find him!" Peter snapped, he knew his team didn't deserve to be snapped at. They were doing their best and none of this was their fault. No one had predicted the club owners to have security measures like this; one guy selling pawned jewellery stumbling across something worth millions of dollars without realising would never think to have bug detectors in the club. Peter slammed his fists on the table as he thought of how stupid they were.

"The undercover team can't see Neal or Cassidy in the bar, we know there's one locked door at the back but they haven't seen him go in or out." Dianna informed him. "There are two exits, the front and the back."

"If they'd come out of the front we would have seen." Peter said, trying hard to keep his voice calm when his heart was beating so hard. "So they would have taken him out of the back, but there's nothing there. Its a dead end."

"If Cassidy found out who Neal really is..." Jones said, not needing to finish the statement, the colour rushing from his leader's face told him that he knew what he was going to say.

"Right, we're going in. Now." The last word was a growl, and Peter was out of the van.

Getting from the van to the back of the cab was a blur. Peter remembered shouting that he was FBI, pushing through dancing couples and rushing towards the back door. The crippling pain in his shoulder told him that it must have been locked and he had forced it open. The blood on his hands told him that Neal was hurt. Peter knew that the image in his head would never be erased; Neal slumped in the corner, trash bags and alcohol bottles spilling around him, his face bruised, eyes barely opening and a large cut above his right eye.

"Peter." Neal's voice was weak, as if it didn't belong to him. "You came."

"I came." Peter crouched on his knees next to him, he told himself it was to check on Neal's injuries but he just needed to be close to him.

"You came." Neal repeated before it all went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, I was going to make this chapter longer but I thought that where I ended it seemed quite a nice break. I have the next chapter written out and just going to do the edit bits and post it soon. I've planned this story and so far it is 5 chapters long, but it might be six now lol. **

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I was surprised at the feedback. Made me grin like a crazy cat! **

**Thank you to SameHere for being amazing! 3 **

**Part 2 **

Peter paced the small hospital room, ten paces forward, turn, ten paces back. His rhythm matched the comforting beeps that told him Neal was still with him. Neal. He turned to stare at the lifeless body, covered in bruises. He didn't look like Neal. The door to the private room opened and Mozzie walked in. "Still no change?" The short man asked, taking off his hat and sitting on the large chair beside the bed. Peter stared at the hat, it made him think of Neal doing one of his cocky hat tricks, the hat tricks he always mocked him for. Peter would do anything for him to do another hat trick.

"No." Peter managed to get out. "It's been two days." He whispered defeated. Two days of pacing, two days of the heart monitor beeping, two days of no Neal.

"The doctors are confident he'll wake up soon." Mozzie said, trying to reassure the suit. "Neal's strong, he'll wake up." He has to. Mozzie didn't say the last bit out loud.

"Yeah," Peter sighed, sitting on the other side of the bed. The hard chair reminded him that it had been a while since he had a proper nights sleep. "He'll wake up." Peter tried to sound confident. Tried, but he knew he failed.

"You should go home, get some sleep, shower..." Mozzie listed, only to be turned down by a shake of the head. Peter had to stay for Neal.

Silence washed over the two men, like it had done for most of the past two days. Even if Mozzie had been talking non-stop, Peter was sure it wouldn't matter, without Neal there talking, everywhere was silent. Peter was so engrossed in the silence, staring at the patterns on the tiled floor as though they were the most fascinating thing in the world that he almost missed the quiet stuttering of the voice he longed to hear. "P-Peter..."

"Neal!" Mozzie was first to react, standing up and waving his hands excitedly. Neal was awake, his best friend would really be okay. "Neal how are you? Do you feel okay? Do you remember what..."

"Peter." Neal whispered again, this time a little louder.

"I'm here." Peter breathed. Relief washed through him. Neal was awake. Peter moved into Neal's line of sight and smiled as best he could, though honestly he felt like crying at this point. "Do you need anything? Water?"

Neal nodded slowly, he tried to run his tongue against his lips, it felt like sandpaper. Peter poured a glass of water and slipped a straw in and gently brought it to Neal's slightly swollen lips. It would take a while for the bruising to go down, Peter didn't want to think about Neal seeing what he looked like. Though the shorter man would never admit it, Neal cared an awful lot about his appearance and that was one of the reasons why he had gotten away with as much as he had over the years.

"Thanks," Neal managed to get out once he finished drinking. "I don't remember," Neal said, breaking the silence that had swarmed over them.

"You will," Peter said softly. "Or if you don't I'll fill you in." Neal nodded slowly, knowing reassuring words were not an easy thing for his friend to say.

"I'm going to go and get your doctor." Mozzie said, before leaving the room.

"How long have I been sleeping?" Neal asked, he tried to sit up but his body sagged at the effort. Every part of his body ached.

"It's been two days." Peter said quietly.

"You have blood on your top." Neal frowned looking at Peter's shirt. "Is...is that my blood?" Peter nodded slowly. "You haven't been home." He said quietly. Peter said nothing, he couldn't find the words to tell him that he couldn't leave his side.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: A huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed. You are all amazing. Especially those who are reading because of my writing and have never watched he show. It makes me feel all giddy inside :) **

**A special thank you to my beautifully sleepy beta Same Here :) x **

**Part 3 **

"Can I go home yet?" Neal asked as he sat up more on the bed. The doctor, a middle aged man who spoke to him like a child, much to Peter's amusement, had just finished checking him over.

"Do you live alone?" The doctor asked. "You'll need some help moving around, and the painkillers I'm going to give you are quite strong."

"I'm sure I can manage." Neal sighed. He hated hospitals, there was something about the smell, the clean walls, the sounds of sick people that made his skin itch.

"He can stay with me. Till he gets on his feet." Peter said, his mind not catching up to what he had just proposed until the words were already out of his mouth.

"I..." Neal frowned at Peter. He hadn't expected that at all.

"Elizabeth is out of town, I have a spare room." Peter said, adopting the doctor's tone and talking to Neal like a toddler. "It's no trouble at all." He sighed. "And I'm not taking no for an answer." Neal shut his mouth, and tried to suck his lip in, it would do no good pouting right now.

"Okay," Neal said instead. "Thank you."

"It's no problem," Peter smiled, relieved that Neal hadn't put up a fight.

"I'm going to run you up for a scan, now that you're awake we can get a better reading. Make sure there's no bleeding," The doctor smiled. "You're fully responsive and I'm confident that they'll come back clear but its procedure."

"We understand." Peter smiled, before Neal could say it wasn't needed. "We don't mind waiting." Peter swore he could see Neal's lips mumble something about that, but he ignored it. One more scan and then they would go back to Peter's house. The doctor smiled and walked out of the room. "Don't say anything Neal." Peter laughed. "You need to be checked over before you can leave."

"I'm fine Peter." Neal sighed.

"Really?" Peter raised an eyebrow. "That's why whenever you move it looks like you're about to scream in pain, or when it gets louder you hold your head?"

"Awh, Peter I'm touched you've noticed." Neal said sarcastically, but honestly he meant every word.

An hour later, Neal was sent for his scan. Peter and Mozzie were both glad that the nurse had come to get him; he had spent the hour moaning about hospitals and how much he wanted to leave. "You know I could stay at his place," Mozzie said, once it was just him and Peter.

"He'll only just convince you to leave." Peter smiled. "I don't mind looking after him, to be honest I'm kind of bored on my own,"

"Okay," Mozzie nodded. "If you're sure..."

"I am." Peter said strongly. He didn't want Mozzie to change his mind about this. "I can keep him busy, look at cases and things."

"Okay," Mozzie nodded. "You know you're good for him." Peter frowned at the statement, he wasn't expecting Mozzie to say that. "He used to be just a con man."

"And now?" Peter asked quietly.

"And now he's mostly just a man." He said softly.

"Well I'm glad." Peter smiled, he didn't know what else to say. Though he could see the change in Peter, a part of him wouldn't let himself believe that Neal was changing, he made himself believe that it was a con. It would hurt less when Neal left him, he was sure.

"In an odd way, suit, so am I." Mozzie smiled. Peter nodded, knowing that was a big thing for the shorter man to admit too. "I'll go to his apartment, get some more of his clothes." Mozzie said.

"Thanks." Peter smiled, and with that Mozzie left, leaving Peter alone in the hospital room.

Sighing tiredly, Peter collapsed back onto the chair and stretched. Now that Neal was awake and okay he could just breathe. After taking five long breaths he pulled open his phone and sent a text to Elizabeth, telling her that Neal was okay. She had wanted to fly back from her parent's house to see Neal, and to make sure Peter was okay, but Peter didn't want her to see him like this. He couldn't be strong for her if he was a wreck. Peter then grabbed the bag that Jones had brought in and pulled off the bloody shirt, and pulled on the FBI training tee that he had brought for him to change into. Peter pulled a face at the smell and realised he should probably have changed days ago, he just hadn't the energy to. Finally, he called work. He told them of the situation, and put in a last minute holiday request taking at least a week off. They all understood and nobody questioned it. Peter did say if they really needed him to call, but had been assured they'd be fine. Peter hoped so. He had come so close to losing Neal, that at that moment he didn't want to let him out of his sight.

As Neal had deemed before the scans, the tests showed no sign of brain damage, no bleeding or any other problems his beatings could have left. Neal was fine to go home and was itching to leave. "I can walk." Neal said loudly as the nurse wheeled a black wheel chair through to their room. Peter rolled his eyes at the glare Neal was giving the chair. "Peter. You are not wheeling me around in that." Neal protested.

"Neal." Peter sighed, "You're hurt. Getting from the bed to the scanner must have hurt a lot, you look exhausted, and I'm not carrying you."

"I can make it." Neal said stubbornly. "Please, just let me try." Neal added quietly, looking at Peter with wide eyes. He needed to do this, he couldn't give up.

"Okay." Peter sighed, though he knew it was probably a bad idea, especially when the doctor was looking at him in a way that Peter read as 'have you lost your mind?' Peter wasn't sure if he had lost his mind yet or not, but he knew trying was important to Neal, so he would give him that.

Neal stood up slowly, putting pressure on his legs made them buckle, but Peter was at his side and wrapped an arm around his waist and helped him walk. The nurse followed with the wheel chair, they all knew at some point on their journey from the fifth floor to the ground that Neal would need a rest. One slow but sure step at a time they made it to the elevator, Neal was breathing heavily as every muscle in his body ached. Peter wondered if maybe the decision for Neal to leave the hospital had been too hasty, was Neal ready? Peter wasn't sure, but he knew that he would help him. Neal was too stubborn to agree to stay in the hospital. He would have discharged himself and gone home alone, who knew what would have happened if he had done that! Peter squeezed his eyes shut and looked down, all he had in his head was the image of Neal falling from his bed, his body curled on the floor, unable to get up.

"Peter, you okay?" Neal asked looking at his handler with worried eyes.

"You're in complete agony, and you're asking me if I'm okay, it's my turn to be touched." Peter smiled, hoping to distract Neal from his original question.

"You look tired, you haven't slept much since it happened have you?" Neal pressed.

"Not as much as you, no." Peter smiled honestly. "I'll sleep when we get in, I'm sure your painkillers will probably knock you out."

"Probably." Neal grimaced. He hated not being in control, and that is exactly what would happen being sedated as a result of medication.

Peter smiled and pressed the button for the elevator. As he stood he held Neal up, he could feel the younger boy's body sagging against him. "Please get in the chair." Peter whispered. "It doesn't make you weak Neal."

"It doesn't?" Neal asked tiredly.

"It doesn't." Peter confirmed and helped him in to it. He took over the nurse's role of pushing the chair and guided him into the elevator, he pressed the button to get to the ground floor and once they arrived there he pushed him to the parking garage. "You should sit in the back, more room." Peter said, looking down at the man in the chair who was already fast asleep. Peter looked at the nurse and together they helped him gently into the back seat of Peter's car, belting him in and putting him into what they thought to be a comfortable position without waking him up.

Peter thanked the nurse and slid into the front seat, he let his head rest on the steering wheel and took a deep breath. They were finally going home, out of the hospital and Neal was awake and Neal was okay. He shook his head, calming his thoughts as he started the car, driving them back to his house. Getting Neal out of the car took a lot of work, mainly because Neal was heavier than he looked, and only just awake enough to help himself get to the spare room. Peter didn't bother about changing him, he just helped him with his shoes, laid him down and gave him his medication. "Get some rest." He whispered, putting the blanket around him. Neal didn't reply, he was already fast asleep.

Slowly, Peter walked out. He headed to the bathroom and stripped out of his clothes, he put the shower on and stood under the harsh spray of cold water, not bothering to wait for it to warm. He washed away the past few days, his own body more then exhausted. He wiped his face, he wasn't expecting to feel tears as well as water droplets on his face, but he didn't question them. He put them down to the fact that it had been a long couple of days. He got out of the shower, pulled on some sweat pants and an old tee and curled up on his bed, not five minutes later he was fast asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. You are all amazing! Thank you for wanting to read this, Really means a lot. **

**Thank you to my wonderful beta Same Here, I couldn't do this without her. **

**Part 4 **

Peter stretched, his whole body seeming to buzz with energy as he got up. It had been days since he had slept in his own bed, and he felt better for finally being home. For knowing that Neal was safe.

Neal. He let his mind wonder to the young man in his spare room. He knew that having Neal around wouldn't be easy, he knew he would be bored and frustrated about not being able to do anything, and the doctor had warned him how strong the painkillers were and the many side effects that Neal could go through; none of them were anything Peter would want to see Neal go through.

Peter padded barefoot to the room Neal was in, smiling when he saw the bedside light on and Neal sitting partly up, his back resting against pillows, reading a book that Peter had forgotten was on the table. Neal didn't look comfortable, Peter could tell that it was a position that he had ended up in by chance and was unable to get himself out of. "Hey," Peter whispered, startling Neal from the book.

"Hey." Neal looked up at him. Peter examined his face for a few moments, the bruises still stood out against his pale skin, his lip was still slightly swollen. He didn't look like Neal.

"How are you feeling?" Peter walked over towards Neal, he didn't say anything about his awkward position; moving the pillow from behind him carefully and moved it a little higher, allowing Neal to slide slowly up until he was in a more comfortable position. The expression in Neal's eyes told Peter how grateful he was for doing it.

"A bit better, thank you." Neal replied, Peter wasn't too sure how much honesty the young man was giving him.

"The painkillers helping?" Peter asked, finding a space on the bed and sitting down, careful not to jostle Neal.

"Yeah, I need some more though, I can feel them wearing off." Neal admitted.

"I'll grab us some breakfast, then you can take them." Peter smiled. "Do you want to move to the front room? Change of scenery?"

"Sounds good." Neal nodded. They didn't speak about the way Peter automatically helped him towards the front room, nor the way that Neal leaned in against Peter's touch. Peter sat Neal down gently on the sofa, using the cushions to help hold him up. "Thank you." Neal whispered looking at Peter with the utmost trust in his eyes.

"Don't mention it." Peter said softly. Neal smiled back, resting his head against the cushions and letting his eyes closed, he listened to the sounds of Peter's footsteps walking out of the room and fell into a light sleep.

Peter busied himself in the kitchen, he made two coffees, and two omelettes; it was normally Elizabeth who did all the cooking, it felt refreshing for him to do something in the kitchen. He set the food and drinks up on trays and walked into the living room. A part of him didn't want to wake Neal, he looked so peaceful and at ease with everything, but Peter knew he would need his pain medication soon. He placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and woke the sleeping man up as softly as he could. "Sorry," Neal said, blinking awake.

"Don't apologize." Peter said, sitting beside him. He helped Neal into a position that would make it easier for him to eat, and set the tray in his lap. The two men ate silently, Peter liked to think that it was a comfortable silence, and he hoped that Neal thought so too. Once they finished eating Peter grabbed the trays and carried them to the kitchen, he left them on the side deciding to clean them up later and he grabbed Neal's medication and a bottle of water. Walking back in the room, he handed Neal the two tablets and water. Neal took them quickly, a sign that showed Peter just how much pain Neal was trying to hide from him.

"Shall we put a movie on?" Peter suggested.

"Sure." Neal answered, leaning back against the sofa.

Peter wasn't concerned about what movie to put on, just put the first one he found, and Neal didn't seem to care either. The movie was just background noise to fill the space between them, as the two men lost themselves in their thoughts. It wasn't until half way through the film that Peter looked at Neal. Neal's face looked lost and scared, his hands were fisted at his side and his eyes were sad. Peter hated seeing him like that, and he wished he could do something to comfort the younger man, but like most of the time, right now he had no idea what Neal was thinking.

"What is it?" Peter asked softly.

Neal tilted his head and looked up at him slowly, his eyes not meeting Peter's. "I'm just thinking,"

"What about?" Peter pressed gently. He didn't want to push Neal, but he was worried about him.

"When I was in prison." Neal replied quietly. Peter didn't like how scared and young he sounded.

"You never talk about what it was like there." Peter said when Neal stopped talking. Peter had read a lot of the prison reports, a few had mentioned incidents where Neal had conned some inmates out of possessions, others were incidents where Neal had been the victim of abuse.

"I don't like to think about it." Neal admitted, looking down again and picking at the material of his pyjamas.

"Okay." Peter breathed out, not too sure if that was the end of the conversation, it was clear to him that Neal didn't want to talk about his horrible time in prison, but a part of him was curious to know how Neal felt.

"I guess I got on a lot of people's nerves." Neal said after a while. "I stole from a lot of people, conned even more. They had people on the inside, and wanted to make sure that I knew why I was there, and that I got what I deserved." Neal looked down, hurt and sadness in his eyes.

"Didn't the guards help?" Peter asked, he fisted his hands at his side. Anger ran through him at the thought of people hurting Neal.

"Most of them got paid off not to notice." Neal sighed. "I don't know why I'm remembering it all now, I thought I was past it."

"I think, maybe getting hurt on the job is making you remember." Peter said after thinking for a while.

"I guess." Neal shrugged, the simple movement making his body ache. "I'm just scared that I'll end up back there, and nothing will have change."

"I want you to know that I will do everything I can for you not to go back there. We have to havethe trust, I trust you not to do anything to get you there, and I hope you trust me enough to not want to." Peter said, the words meaning so much to him; it was the first real conversation between them from the heart about what would happen if Neal turned back to his old ways.

"I know." Neal whispered.

"You'll be okay. I won't let anyone hurt you again," Peter said, meaning it from the bottom of his heart.

"Thank you." Neal said, his voice growing softer as the painkillers kicked in making him feel tired. Peter noticed and didn't say anything else, knowing he needed to give Neal the chance for the words to sink in. Before he knew it Neal had fallen asleep on the sofa, and Peter was following suit soon after.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: So this is the last chapter. I know this is a short story but I was just testing the waters, I tend to write short stories at first before I know what to do. Someone mentioned that they would have loved to see more of a back story, so I will try and do a story with these characters of more plot and story, but right now I just wanted to see if I could get the characters right. I'm hoping that I have done what I wanted with this story, a huge thank you to everyone who has read this story and reviewed.

I hope I did a good job.

Thank you to SameHere, I couldn't have done this without you!

**Part 5 **

Peter had fallen into an easy routine, one that he had gotten used to and was starting to like. It had been almost a week since Neal had gotten hurt. Though Neal was still in a lot of pain, he was starting to get better. Peter found that when he went to help him out of bed, Neal was leaning on him less and less, when Peter went to help push Neal's cushions up, it was already done. Neal was becoming okay again, and that was a good thing, except Peter was starting to feel useless around him. He had fallen into a routine where he was the one to help Neal, and now that Neal didn't need any help he didn't know what he was there for.

Peter sighed as he set the table in the kitchen for breakfast. Since Neal could sit up without being in constant pain now, they had moved from eating breakfast in the living room to in the kitchen, though Neal still had a cushion against his back to help support him. Slowly, Peter looked up when he heard footsteps in the hall. They were slow, and every so often there was a grunt of pain. Waiting for Neal to come in the room was the hardest thing Peter had ever had to do. All his instincts screamed for him to rush to Neal's side, to put an arm around him and help him, but he bit his lip and waited for Neal to come in. He knew that Neal had to do this alone. Neal needed to realise that he was getting better. Peter needed to realise that too.

"Good morning," Neal's voice was tired, the walk from the bedroom to the kitchen had worn him out. He collapsed more than sat down, wincing as his aching body hit the wooden chair frame.

"Good morning." Peter replied softly, though the wincing and the groaning wasn't anything new, it made Peter smile; Neal wasn't in as much pain as he had been before. Neal was getting better. "You slept longer than normal."

"I didn't wake up in the middle of the night either." Neal smiled, "Guess that's a good sign right?"

"Right." Peter said quietly, his smile not reaching his eyes.

"Is everything okay?" Neal asked, picking up on Peter's mood.

"Yeah, everything is fine." Peter said, he shook his head trying to wipe the thoughts from his head. He had no idea why he was feeling like this. Neal was getting better and everything was going to be okay. Why was his brain confusing everything.

"Do you want to watch a movie after breakfast then?" Neal asked, he could smell the breakfast Peter had started to make and it reminded him how hungry he was.

"Sounds good." Peter smiled, he stood up and continued making breakfast, the menial task busying his brain and thankfully, stopping the nagging thoughts going on in his head.

It wasn't until after they had eaten breakfast, and watched an action movie – the plot escaping Peter, all he was aware of was the fact that even the explosions weren't loud enough to startle him from his thoughts – that Neal brought Peter's mood up again. During the film Neal had noticed a lot of changes in his friend, he was quiet, solemn even, his normal banter about what was going onscreen and what would happen in real life wasn't there. Neal knew that something was bothering him and he was determined to find out what it was. But what left Neal's mouth had nothing to do with how Peter was feeling, but it was something that had been nagging Neal for a while.

"How come you and Elizabeth don't have children?" Neal knew that he had worded it wrong. There could be millions of reasons why they didn't have children, most of them horrible and upsetting to think about. It was also none of his business, though he knew that Peter would never be mad at him for asking something like that, he didn't like the idea of hurting his friend. Peter didn't look hurt; he looked confused and almost amused that Neal would ask him something like that.

"That's a bit out of the blue." Peter said, a smile toying on his lips. Neal rolled his eyes. Peter could tell that Neal was uncomfortable asking the question. Peter was actually enjoying it. Neal didn't know what else to say, so he just shrugged and waited for Peter to continue talking. "We've spoken about it, we both want children; one day. Just not yet. With my job it wouldn't be fair to her, and she's not in the right place of her life yet. One day we both know we'd make good parents, but just not yet."

"I think you'd make a good dad." Neal said after letting Peter's words wash over him. "Sometimes I hope my dad was like you." Neal had no idea why he was saying things like this, a part of him wanted to believe that it was the painkillers; they were still in his system and still making his brain fuzzy. But the deeper part of himself knew that he was saying it because it was true and he was desperate for Peter to know. "But then sometimes I hope he isn't, because I could never imagine someone like you leaving a child alone."

"You don't talk about him." Peter said, keeping his voice soft, comforting.

"I don't know a lot about him, to talk about." Neal admitted. "He died when I was two."

"Oh Neal, I'm so sorry." Peter whispered, he wondered how he didn't know that. What else didn't he know about Neal? Right now he knew that he didn't like how sad he looked, he wished he could do something to take the hurt and the pain away. He wanted to take Neal in his arms and hold him, but physical comfort had never really been their thing. Instead, he placed a firm hand on his arm, gave a soft squeeze and hoped it conveyed what he wanted it to; 'I'm here for you, no matter what.' The look in Neal's eyes told him that it was enough, and that he was grateful.

"It's going to be weird not having you here." Peter said, a feeling of relief washed over him, as though a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

"It's been nice." Neal said in return. "I'm getting better, but...I don't know, it's been nice." Neal repeated not able to find the words. "It's good having a guy I can talk to, I mean Mozzie is great and all, but this just feels...nice."

"Nice." Peter nodded.

"It wasn't how I thought it would be." Neal added, Peter raised an eyebrow. What did Neal mean? Before he had a chance to ask him, Neal started to talk again. "I hate showing people how weak I am, I was scared that you would think less of me." Peter's heart felt heavy as Neal said that. He would never ever think less of Neal for being hurt, he certainly didn't think that he was weak.

"Neal, you got hurt. That doesn't make you weak, it was something that was beyond your control." Peter said, hoping his words struck hard with Neal. He needed him to believe it.

"And nothing has changed?" Neal asks, that was what he was worried about, things changing. For him and Peter not to be him and Peter anymore.

"Nothing has changed," Peter promised.

They didn't say anything else, they just settled back into the sofa and watched another film, neither paying attention both just thinking about what had been said between them, though nothing had really changed, they both knew their friendship was stronger, they both just wished it hadn't taken Neal getting hurt to get them there.


End file.
